2. Resistance
• The bulk of our studies this semester
have emphasized the relationship
between popular culture and social
inequality:
– In some cases, we have found that
inequalities in popular culture are a
reflection of inequalities that are
produced elsewhere
– In other cases, we have found that
popular culture itself can be a tool by
which inequalities are produced
3. Resistance
• But it could be a mistake to assume that
popular culture can only create or affirm
inequality
• It may also be possible for popular culture to
be used as a tool for fighting against these
inequalities—a tool of resistance
• Today, we will focus on the use of popular
culture to resist messages that reproduce
inequalities (content level)
• On Wednesday, we will focus on the use of
popular culture to resist inequalities in
cultural production (industry level)
4. What is Resistance?
• Resistance, for our purposes today, is any
action that seeks to counter the prevailing
cultural trends—particularly those trends that
create inequality along lines of class, race,
gender, sexuality, or disability status.
• Acts of resistance may engage a number of
tools, including popular culture.
• I want to suggest 4 types of resistance that
we can look for…
5. 4 Types of Resistance
1. Defensive Resistance: an act that
protects the individual from the
prevailing trends, but leaves the trend
in place.
– The individual creates a wall of protection
around herself:
– Example: Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe
Record Label
Cultural
Trend
Individual
6. 4 Types of Resistance
2. Offensive Resistance: These are acts that
do more than simply protect the
individual. These acts demand social
change.
– The individual or group goes on the offensive
and demands that the prevailing trends be
altered
– Example: Documentary Supersize Me, which
demanded certain changes by McDonalds
Cultural
Trend Individual
7. 4 Types of Resistance
3. Failed Resistance: An act is undertaken with a
goal of resistance, but that act becomes re-
defined as something other than resistance.
– Isolation: No audience. Nobody pays attention.
– Absorption: The act of resistance just becomes one
more available genre. Ms. Becomes just one more
magazine to choose from on the newsstand.
– Division: The resistance community becomes divided
within itself, as with East Coast/West Coast rap divides,
or battles between gay/lesbian ideology and queer
ideology.
– Appropriation: The language of resistance becomes
mainstream, such as the ad that Jean Kilbourne refers
to for flavored douches with the caption “Relax and
Enjoy the Revolution.”
8. 4 Types of Resistance
4. False Resistance: Acts that look like
resistance or are presented to us as
resistance, when in fact their source is
the very cultural trend they claim to
resist.
– For example, Madonna’s video for “Justify
My Love” which looked like resistance
against the restrictions of the music
industry but which actually produced
enormous profits for Madonna and the
corporation promoting her.
9. Resistance: A Case Study
• We are going to examine two songs that
seem to be forms of resistance
• The cultural trend they are resisting is the set
of messages about women that are
communicated through music and music
videos
• The two songs:
– “Video” by India.Arie
– “Your Revolution” by Sarah Jones
(distribute lyrics)
10. “Video” by India.arie
• First single released from
her first album, Acoustic
Soul
• Released in 2001
11. “Your Revolution” by Sarah
Jones
• Jones is a poet and actress who recorded this
piece in 1999 (and performed it on HBO’s Def
Poetry Jam).
• When radio station KBOO-FM in Portland,
Oregon played the track on the airwaves, it was
fined $7000 by the FCC because of the song’s
“unmistakable patently offensive sexual
references”
• Thereafter, no other stations would play “Your
Revolution”
• With the help of People for the American Way,
Jones and KBOO-FM sued the FCC in 2002 and
won their case in 2003, forcing the FCC to
reverse its decision
• Jones is now performing her one-woman show
“Bridge and Tunnel” on Broadway. Her
producer is Meryl Streep.
12. Comparison
• Do these songs seek similar goals?
• How do they differ? Do the
differences matter?
• What kinds of resistance are these?
• Do the songs work?
• Which song is the most powerful?
• Which song reaches the most people?
13. Analysis
• Message strength varies inversely with
audience size
– The stronger a message of resistance is, the
smaller its audience will be
– Put differently, the less a producer of resistance
culture cares about audience size, the stronger
her message can be
– But toning down a message can have the effect
of broadening the audience
– “Video” reaches a large audience with a
comparatively weak message
– “Your Revolution” offers a strong message to a
comparatively small audience
